There are difficulties in doing research related to cell phone market. Cell phone users are widespread across regions and before researching anything related to cell phones, the sample size taken should be well enough to represent all sectors. The validity of the research conducted should be verified. Biased responses should be avoided. The sample size should be large enough to arrive at a conclusion. One may encounter problems when analyzing from small sub samples.
In the case of the article, cell phone usage and political preferences may not correspond to those that are most commonly used to weight polls. It is now very difficult, for instance, to get young people on the phone when using a land line-only sample. More than 50 % of all adults from age 25-29, for instance, are cell phone-only, and two-thirds are either cell phone-only or cell phone-mostly. The numbers are actually slightly better for adults aged 18-24, who are more likely to be living in a college dormitory, or still to be living at home, where a land line will usually be available. Coupling this with the fact that young people have grown up in a call-screening culture, and their response rates are often completely inadequate.
The main problem with the study is that weighting seemed to work just fine for multiple pollsters during the 2008 election when there was a historic turnout of alleged cell phone only demographics.
One of the ways by which Indian cell phone providers can track usage and billing statistics is through concentration on demographics.
Nine telecom companies forked over $14.6 billion to the government for coveted 3G mobile spectrum. The question now is: Will they ever get their money's worth?
The auction further broken India's hyper-competitive mobile market and forces Indian telecoms to make steep payouts even as a price war crushes profit margins.
Moreover, converting customers to 3G in a nation whose work force is still dominated by small farmers could prove challenging. Many Indians in rural areas, which have driven subscriber growth, may be content with affordable, basic voice services for years to come. Many companies feel that they overpaid.
It remains to be seen how companies will tie up or consolidate to provide nationwide coverage to their 3G subscribers.
The auction format and severe spectrum shortage along with ensuing policy uncertainty drove the prices beyond reasonable levels. This fractured auction results, with smaller players would lead to a further splintering of the mobile industry.
It's also not clear to analysts whether most Indians need 3G spectrum. India's mobile market is far from mature, adding 20 million users a month, many of them in rural villages where they have little use for the fancy data services, video calls and high-tech graphic applications that 3G makes possible. Only 5 per cent of mobile owners have handsets with 3G capability.
The telecom industry has been India’s biggest infrastructure success, and the operators would like to see good times continue. To recover their investments, the 3G spectrum winners will have to focus on customers with high ARPUs. In a country where the ARPU is already low, overpaying for 3G will definitely affect the bottom line. Whether telecom can pull off this gamble remains to be seen.
Tuesday, June 22
IBM - From Computers to Computer Services
Over the years, IBM Chief Executive Palmisano had built these concepts of revamping customers' operations and even running them into a strategy. His goal is to free IBM from the computer industry, which is growing at just 6% a year. Instead of merely selling and servicing technology, IBM is putting to use the immense resources it has in-house, from its software programmers to its 3,300 research scientists, to transform themselves from a computers and technology services into a business solutions provider. Palmisano had said that they are going to give a transformational process of running the entire business for their clients.
Palmisano expects that within 10 years IBM could build an annual revenue stream of as much as $50 billion in business consulting and outsourcing services. If so, Palmisano will have created a second services miracle and hitched IBM to a crucial growth market. And in the process, his company will be running or managing the majority share of the World’s business.
Rivalry and Competition is one of the Porter’s models which IBM is facing. Over the years, Computing and technology services are becoming more and more like a commodity business. The arrival of rivals in the industry such as Dell Inc. whose services are more efficient also made to think Palmisano on embarking on this journey. Though Dell’s business is small compared to that of IBM’s business, their growth rate of 30 percent a year should be taken seriously. Continuing in this way will result in slower growth and dwindled profit margins. Even in the outsourcing services industry. IBM has to face tough competition from Accenture and couple of Indian players like Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services. IBM had to compete with costs against these competitors as they are offering low cost without compromising on the services which are on par with IBM had promised.
Another Porter’s model which I think IBM has is creating barriers to entry. If IBM were able to deliver what they are promising, they can create an environment where clients could not be able to think beyond IBM for business outsourcing services. They also had their early win in securing ground breaking contracts. As IBM is a kind of company which constantly innovates, they can also venture into new markets and create an environment where they can enjoy monopoly.
Problems faced by IBM include completion in this business outsourcing industry and other Indian players. They offer the same kind of services as IBM plans to offer at lower cost. So in order to overcome this problem IBM should offer business services at competitive costs. As it is transforming into services industry, IBM faces the big challenge of making all their salesmen to get accustomed to the tricks and trade of the business solutions industry.
IBM should research on what are the services their competitors are providing, their business strategy and what is the future of this business outsourcing industry, how well it can sustain in the long term as it would help them to gain advantages over their competitors.
Palmisano expects that within 10 years IBM could build an annual revenue stream of as much as $50 billion in business consulting and outsourcing services. If so, Palmisano will have created a second services miracle and hitched IBM to a crucial growth market. And in the process, his company will be running or managing the majority share of the World’s business.
Rivalry and Competition is one of the Porter’s models which IBM is facing. Over the years, Computing and technology services are becoming more and more like a commodity business. The arrival of rivals in the industry such as Dell Inc. whose services are more efficient also made to think Palmisano on embarking on this journey. Though Dell’s business is small compared to that of IBM’s business, their growth rate of 30 percent a year should be taken seriously. Continuing in this way will result in slower growth and dwindled profit margins. Even in the outsourcing services industry. IBM has to face tough competition from Accenture and couple of Indian players like Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services. IBM had to compete with costs against these competitors as they are offering low cost without compromising on the services which are on par with IBM had promised.
Another Porter’s model which I think IBM has is creating barriers to entry. If IBM were able to deliver what they are promising, they can create an environment where clients could not be able to think beyond IBM for business outsourcing services. They also had their early win in securing ground breaking contracts. As IBM is a kind of company which constantly innovates, they can also venture into new markets and create an environment where they can enjoy monopoly.
Problems faced by IBM include completion in this business outsourcing industry and other Indian players. They offer the same kind of services as IBM plans to offer at lower cost. So in order to overcome this problem IBM should offer business services at competitive costs. As it is transforming into services industry, IBM faces the big challenge of making all their salesmen to get accustomed to the tricks and trade of the business solutions industry.
IBM should research on what are the services their competitors are providing, their business strategy and what is the future of this business outsourcing industry, how well it can sustain in the long term as it would help them to gain advantages over their competitors.
Thursday, April 29
Analysis of WTO against China's limits on imports
The time has come to recognize that EU, Japan, China practice trade policies that can only be called mercantalistic. The United States has tried to use the WTO for years to force these parties to change, but nothing has happened. The time has come for policy makers in this country to abandon the notion of free trade and begin the re-industrialization of this nation. Unfortunately, special interest groups which profit from the present economic rules to the detriment of ordinary hard working Americans will block such policies.
China will never compete fairly and will always act in bad faith. China’s trade policies (including currency) are very protectionist and aggressive which they justify as necessary to make up for past disadvantages. No one wins in a trade war - but a country can only be pushed so far before it realizes that it is being beggared by trade counterparty. The USA has been among the biggest advocates of free trade - but has rarely evaluated whether that trade is fair. With constant enormous trade deficits, it appears that several countries (including China) have taken advantage of the US open trade policy.
China continues to amass a huge trade surplus over U.S. They then use these funds to not only buy our distressed and bankrupted corporations but to also acquire our own indigenously developed high technology.
China will never compete fairly and will always act in bad faith. China’s trade policies (including currency) are very protectionist and aggressive which they justify as necessary to make up for past disadvantages. No one wins in a trade war - but a country can only be pushed so far before it realizes that it is being beggared by trade counterparty. The USA has been among the biggest advocates of free trade - but has rarely evaluated whether that trade is fair. With constant enormous trade deficits, it appears that several countries (including China) have taken advantage of the US open trade policy.
China continues to amass a huge trade surplus over U.S. They then use these funds to not only buy our distressed and bankrupted corporations but to also acquire our own indigenously developed high technology.
Wednesday, April 28
U.S - China trade - Win-Win for China
China is a growing economic power, 2nd only to the US in size. Both the countries stand to reap substantial economic rewards by reducing the costs of business, eliminating tariffs and working cooperatively.
China must do more to protect IP rights, and the government needs to divorce itself of ownership interests in industry .The most pressing dangers to US economic competitiveness come from inside their own borders. The most promising item for US exporters is the rise of a Chinese middle class, hungry for U.S products. Billions of people wanting to spend their hard earned wealth on U.S products.
America is at a great disadvantage economically from China’s unfair trade policies and U.S should move to cancel your membership to the WTO because of non-tariff import restrictions and unbalanced currency manipulations, and exploitation of copyright laws. China only looks after its own interests and is the ultimate free rider on the world stage.
China wins by exporting cheap Chinese products which helps employment in China and China wins because those exports in turn allow China to amass huge forex reserves which China invests in US treasuries.
US looses domestic jobs because of imports of cheap Chinese products and US looses because US digs an ever deeper debt hole in favor of China with Chinese investments made from Chinese exports.
There is no clear picture how long this one-way trade with China having huge trade surpluses with US can continue and how much deeper debt hole can US dig for itself before it realizes that free-trade mantra is its own graveyard?
On the whole, I feel US - China trade is a win-win game for China.
China must do more to protect IP rights, and the government needs to divorce itself of ownership interests in industry .The most pressing dangers to US economic competitiveness come from inside their own borders. The most promising item for US exporters is the rise of a Chinese middle class, hungry for U.S products. Billions of people wanting to spend their hard earned wealth on U.S products.
America is at a great disadvantage economically from China’s unfair trade policies and U.S should move to cancel your membership to the WTO because of non-tariff import restrictions and unbalanced currency manipulations, and exploitation of copyright laws. China only looks after its own interests and is the ultimate free rider on the world stage.
China wins by exporting cheap Chinese products which helps employment in China and China wins because those exports in turn allow China to amass huge forex reserves which China invests in US treasuries.
US looses domestic jobs because of imports of cheap Chinese products and US looses because US digs an ever deeper debt hole in favor of China with Chinese investments made from Chinese exports.
There is no clear picture how long this one-way trade with China having huge trade surpluses with US can continue and how much deeper debt hole can US dig for itself before it realizes that free-trade mantra is its own graveyard?
On the whole, I feel US - China trade is a win-win game for China.
Wednesday, April 21
Airtel's innings in Africa
Competition and unexplored avenues which can bring in possible potential revenues pushes the companies to spread their wings globally. This article is the analysis of Bharti Airtel’s expansion to Africa by acquiring Zain, a Kuwait based telecommunication firm which has operations in 15 countries in Africa. Airtel was foraying into Africa again after their earlier attempts to gain foothold in Africa through MTN deal resulted in failure.
Zain was not doing brisk business in Africa compared to their operations in the Middle East. Airtel saw the potential profitability in acquiring Zain as their entry to African market. In India, Airtel is the pioneer in making the best use of technology in providing communication services. It was their superior technology and minute based revenue which fetched them 33 % market share. Airtel strongly believed that integrating their technology with Zain’s existing platform would be cost effective for them.
Airtel also benefitted from Zain’s Zap, a mobile money service which enables the payment of groceries bills via mobile which in India is still in very nascent stage. They can implement this in India to further strengthen their market share. Low procurement cost, high market penetration, and replication of low cost business model provides ample scope for growth in Africa but at the same time, they also have to contend with operations overhaul and integration challenges. Each percentage increase in tele-density in a continent like Africa brings a GDP growth to India.
The competition is also less in Africa compared to India. In Africa they have the advantage of competing with only 4 competitors where in India every now and then a new service provider is coming into the market.
I will say that slowly but surely Airtel is moving in the right direction to tap the potential in African telecommunication market which is on an upswing. But still it is going to be a big challenge for Bharti Airtel to make money out of Zain's African assets.
Zain was not doing brisk business in Africa compared to their operations in the Middle East. Airtel saw the potential profitability in acquiring Zain as their entry to African market. In India, Airtel is the pioneer in making the best use of technology in providing communication services. It was their superior technology and minute based revenue which fetched them 33 % market share. Airtel strongly believed that integrating their technology with Zain’s existing platform would be cost effective for them.
Airtel also benefitted from Zain’s Zap, a mobile money service which enables the payment of groceries bills via mobile which in India is still in very nascent stage. They can implement this in India to further strengthen their market share. Low procurement cost, high market penetration, and replication of low cost business model provides ample scope for growth in Africa but at the same time, they also have to contend with operations overhaul and integration challenges. Each percentage increase in tele-density in a continent like Africa brings a GDP growth to India.
The competition is also less in Africa compared to India. In Africa they have the advantage of competing with only 4 competitors where in India every now and then a new service provider is coming into the market.
I will say that slowly but surely Airtel is moving in the right direction to tap the potential in African telecommunication market which is on an upswing. But still it is going to be a big challenge for Bharti Airtel to make money out of Zain's African assets.
Tuesday, April 20
Letter to Captains...
To ,
Anil Kumble – Royal Challengers Bangalore
M S Dhoni – Chennai Super Kings
Sachin Tendulkar – Mumbai Indians
Adam Gilchrist – Deccan Chargers
Subject : Selecetion of playing 11 for Semifinals
Hi All ,
To make the IPL 3 journey more exciting , I would like to suggest you the best playing 11 for you guys…
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Manish Pandey
Jacques Kallis
Kevin Pieterson
Robin Uthappa
Ross Taylor
Virat Kohli
Rahul Dravid
Anil Kumble
Dale Steyn
Vinay Kumar
Praveen Kumar
Mumbai Indians
Sachin Tendulkar
Shikar Dhawan
Saurabh Tiwary
Ambati Rayudu
Keiron Pollard
J.P.Duminy
Dwayne Bravo
Abhishek Nayar
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Lasith Malinga
Chennai Super Kings
Matthew Hayden
Murali Vijay
Suresh Raina
M.S.Dhoni
S.Badrinath
Albie Morkel
R.Ashwin
Shadab Jakati
Sudeep Tyagi
Doug Bollinger
Muttiah Muralitharan
Deccan Chargers
Adam Gilchrist
Herschelle Gibbs
Mohnish Mishra
T Suman
Rohit Sharma
Andrew Symonds
Venugopal Rao
Pragyan Ojha
Harmeet Singh
Chaminda Vaas
R.P.Singh
This line ups are a suggestion to bring out the best of entertainment and game of cricket from IPL.
Regards
Venky
Anil Kumble – Royal Challengers Bangalore
M S Dhoni – Chennai Super Kings
Sachin Tendulkar – Mumbai Indians
Adam Gilchrist – Deccan Chargers
Subject : Selecetion of playing 11 for Semifinals
Hi All ,
To make the IPL 3 journey more exciting , I would like to suggest you the best playing 11 for you guys…
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Manish Pandey
Jacques Kallis
Kevin Pieterson
Robin Uthappa
Ross Taylor
Virat Kohli
Rahul Dravid
Anil Kumble
Dale Steyn
Vinay Kumar
Praveen Kumar
Mumbai Indians
Sachin Tendulkar
Shikar Dhawan
Saurabh Tiwary
Ambati Rayudu
Keiron Pollard
J.P.Duminy
Dwayne Bravo
Abhishek Nayar
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Lasith Malinga
Chennai Super Kings
Matthew Hayden
Murali Vijay
Suresh Raina
M.S.Dhoni
S.Badrinath
Albie Morkel
R.Ashwin
Shadab Jakati
Sudeep Tyagi
Doug Bollinger
Muttiah Muralitharan
Deccan Chargers
Adam Gilchrist
Herschelle Gibbs
Mohnish Mishra
T Suman
Rohit Sharma
Andrew Symonds
Venugopal Rao
Pragyan Ojha
Harmeet Singh
Chaminda Vaas
R.P.Singh
This line ups are a suggestion to bring out the best of entertainment and game of cricket from IPL.
Regards
Venky
IPL 3 - One hell of a journey
The final four for the semis were decided with just one league match remaining in the tournament. That itself tells you how competitive the matches and the teams have been.
All tournaments have their ups and downs and so did this one. But you could not ask for a better last week with four teams trying their best to get a place in the semi-finals which are have been relocated to Navi Mumbai due to unavoidable circumstances.
We’ve seen many tournaments and series where teams are forced to play inconsequential matches, which is neither good for cricket nor for fans. Many of these matches, not surprisingly, fail to attract a good response in terms of fans coming to the stadium. It is heartening to see that with just two league matches to go, we still don’t know who the fourth semi-finalist will be.
The tournament has been on for over a month now and full of surprise victories and sudden failures. Changes in team form, player form and pitches have kept the tournament alive. What is interesting here is that teams that were struggling earlier did find some form and those who started off extremely well are now finding it difficult to book a place. Mumbai Indians are the exception here, impressive for their consistency. They have won 10 of their 13 games so far and qualified for the semis with three games in the kitty.
Delhi and Chennai are the ones who started well, fluttered in the middle and now are back to roaring form. Deccan Chargers were the strugglers who have now suddenly taken the tournament by the scruff of its neck and have gone on to win five matches on the trot.
The Delhi pitch has improved from a few matches ago while the Chennai track has started providing a lot of turn and bounce. M Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru is not as quick as it was at the start of the tournament. And the ground at Dharamsala has been a welcome entry to the IPL. It has lived up to expectations which is no mean achievement considering it was being compared to the Newlands cricket ground at Cape Town famous for its backdrop of the Table Mountain.
The three strongest teams have made it to the semis – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians seem to be the strong favourites to win the title, yet on their day, Chennai and Bangalore too can trounce the side led by the little champion.
This is what makes IPL even more interesting and has the entire nation on its feet. Every match from now on will be watched even more keenly and it will be interesting to know what team fans will support, especially those whose favourite team has been ousted from the tournament.
Whoever wins, one thing is for certain, its been one hell of a journey. And the IPL Awards are the perfect conclusion to a highly engaging series.
I back Chennai Super Kings to take the championship.....
All tournaments have their ups and downs and so did this one. But you could not ask for a better last week with four teams trying their best to get a place in the semi-finals which are have been relocated to Navi Mumbai due to unavoidable circumstances.
We’ve seen many tournaments and series where teams are forced to play inconsequential matches, which is neither good for cricket nor for fans. Many of these matches, not surprisingly, fail to attract a good response in terms of fans coming to the stadium. It is heartening to see that with just two league matches to go, we still don’t know who the fourth semi-finalist will be.
The tournament has been on for over a month now and full of surprise victories and sudden failures. Changes in team form, player form and pitches have kept the tournament alive. What is interesting here is that teams that were struggling earlier did find some form and those who started off extremely well are now finding it difficult to book a place. Mumbai Indians are the exception here, impressive for their consistency. They have won 10 of their 13 games so far and qualified for the semis with three games in the kitty.
Delhi and Chennai are the ones who started well, fluttered in the middle and now are back to roaring form. Deccan Chargers were the strugglers who have now suddenly taken the tournament by the scruff of its neck and have gone on to win five matches on the trot.
The Delhi pitch has improved from a few matches ago while the Chennai track has started providing a lot of turn and bounce. M Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru is not as quick as it was at the start of the tournament. And the ground at Dharamsala has been a welcome entry to the IPL. It has lived up to expectations which is no mean achievement considering it was being compared to the Newlands cricket ground at Cape Town famous for its backdrop of the Table Mountain.
The three strongest teams have made it to the semis – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians seem to be the strong favourites to win the title, yet on their day, Chennai and Bangalore too can trounce the side led by the little champion.
This is what makes IPL even more interesting and has the entire nation on its feet. Every match from now on will be watched even more keenly and it will be interesting to know what team fans will support, especially those whose favourite team has been ousted from the tournament.
Whoever wins, one thing is for certain, its been one hell of a journey. And the IPL Awards are the perfect conclusion to a highly engaging series.
I back Chennai Super Kings to take the championship.....
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